Intervention of Occupational Therapy in patient with Stroke in acute phase: Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this work was both to fill this gap in the scientific literature, and to evaluate the results of an Occupational Therapy treatment in individuals affected by an acute phase stroke, taking into account Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).

 Methods: A systematic review was carried out according to PRISMA guidelines. Three bibliographic databases were searched, namely MEDLINE, CINAHL and PEDro. The minimal prerequisites included in existing papers on such systematic reviews were: (a) Randomized Controlled Trial, (b) published in English (c) during the last ten years (2006 -2016). Studies were evaluated according to Jadad Score.

Results: 12 studies were included. Selected papers showed an average Jadad score of 2,15.

Conclusions: The review suggests that so far there is not a more effective treatment in comparison to others; moreover, available studies lack available samples and overall show to have a poor Jadad score. Nevertheless, a number of suggestive results emerged by the study carried out.  Occupational therapists shall perform and report higher quality clinical studies as well as an increased evidence level with the aim to build up a trustworthy arsenal of evidence-based interventions for people with acute stroke.